Fall
by swe3tie
Summary: Jennifer falls into him as she jumps at the last minute. He catches her easily, lifting her up off the ground, supporting her. With a change that allows him to fall. Quietly and swiftly as the leaves that marks his falling. He's fallen. ONESHOT


DISCLAIMER: Any characters displayed in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Teen Wolf...Unfortunately or else I'd keep Derek in my pocket and Jennifer would be hiding in my purse at all times.

The lines that are in italics belong solely to me as from a poem I wrote a few years ago that fit into the story called _Gravity _(If you wish to see the poem on a stand alone, I can post it up aside from this oneshot if I get enough people asking for it.)

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with a new oneshot seeing as so many people enjoyed _Touch. _Sadly it's a one of kind story that I don't wish to extend but thank you for the support. If you haven't read it, you should so you can get a sense of my writing. This story's oneshot features the scene between Derek and Jennifer when he decides to meet her on school grounds and she just ...well you'll see what I mean once you read it. && let's not spoil it for those who have yet to watch the show but let's pretend Jennifer is not the ...(you know what I'm talking bout since you watched the episode) in this fic. As always I have a song that goes to the story but surprisenly it's not the song that was featured on the scene but goes with the poem. Gravity by Sara Bareilles. REMEMBER: Comments are loved and silent readers are frown upon. Enough talking and on with the show. Enjoy :)

* * *

_This love,_

_is beyond _

_anything I've felt_

Down the steps, Jennifer hurries to meet someone. She stops at the bottom, hesitating when a figure steps in from the walls of the undercover area. At the foot of the stairs, she leans forward to get a better glimpse, only to take a rigid step back in fear as the figure draws closer.

_I'm scared_

_a bit hopeful_

She takes in the slow casual, but confident stride that the person walks with. He is wearing faded but tight fitting black jeans and a rolled up sleeve sweater. His arms sway faintly to his sides, his palms tapping against his thighs at an angle of ease. From the silhouette of his face, the sharp jawline, the short scruff of hair and his handsome five o clock shadow, Jennifer's face breaks into a smile when she realizes who it is.

_there's doubts_

_but _

_your presence pushes them back_

With a sigh of relief, she rushes forward with a sure and steady walk that escalates into a dash as Derek sees purpose on her face, halting himself. Within the great couple of steps, he decides to wait for her to come; his arms out at his sides ready to hold her.

_Are you thinking of me?_

_as I am?_

Jennifer collides into him with her arms outstretched, her hair blazing behind her as she jumps at the last minute. He catches her easily, lifting her up off the ground, supporting her from under her shoulders. Her right leg springs up as her other leg's toes point out, overwhelmed. Her arms wound tightly around his neck, her face burrowing into his shoulder, breathing him in. Taking in his scent, she inhales, assuring herself that he's really here. Here with her.

_I ask, _

_how much longer _

_till my last night alone_

The image of him broke to his core, a man beyond his ability to heal emotionally no matter the length of time. He was mentally scarred from the shock and tragedy of the situation in all. A man with his body let alone fingers could not stop shaking at the foot of one of his dead pack members, partially by his own doing.

_Will you catch me_

_even as_

_I'm broken _

_into countless_

_pieces_

His eyes spoke volumes of guilt in why he felt stronger when his claws pierced Boyd's stomach, stealing his life force. Facing the denial of truth laid out right in front of him; that it was his fault Boyd is now dead. Dismiss the regard of Kali who had placed his beta onto his claws. The anger he had inside of him when he should have foreseen what Kali was about to do and stopped himself but couldn't. He felt the blame headfirst as his younger sister came into his peripheral vision, his eyes unable to focus on anything except on seeing _another_ life (he didn't think he'd ever do again) taken by him.

The weight of the situation pushing him down onto his knees, withdrawing his hand closer to the ground as he tried to make sense of what just happened. His mind racing with turmoil over how he's supposed to cope, move on from this death he caused, a death of his beta he turned, taught and tried guiding to become better lycan. His head was lowered in shame, not knowing what to do or how to deal, coming to terms that he's still was that young insecure boy who just killed an innocent. He's accepted his fate of being alone in order to keep those around him safe but has lost hope when he ends up being the one who hurts them himself. Almost to say biting the hand that feeds you.

_The little voice continues_

Jennifer remembers trembling in the arms of one of her students, holding her own elbows, closed off in the same way when he was the one there holding his hand out for her. A once gaping mouth compared to the quivering bottom lip of his then. The sight of him sitting on his knees with his hands still shaking, eyes full of immense pain flashing behind the backs of her own eyes.

She can't help the thought that's been haunting her since that day. The thought that she was to blame for putting Derek in the position to fight that resulted in another student of hers and his beta's death. If she wasn't so stupid to get caught by the twins in a class she taught (mind you she even had one suspended for literally riding his motorcycle in the hallways let alone on school property), he could have had a chance of beating the three alphas with his two pack members backing him up. Did he think that of her? Has he had those same similar thoughts tracking him down? Making him see her in a different light? Unaware of the panic in her head, Derek lets her down sturdily.

_Just I,_

_don't want this_

_to end_

She instantly kisses him once she's grounded to the earth, urgent and frantically. Not missing the opportunity to wrap her right hand to the back of his neck so she could feel the little hairs there. Her other hand uses his shoulder to keep her afloat, to keep her steady from her weak knees to her weak ankles from falling; overcome with all the emotions of seeing him. Thinking she'd never see him again.

She waited with no sign of him; no call, no text, nothing to remind her he even existed and things such as werewolves were a distance thought. She didn't even have his number because he said it ensured keeping her safe if she didn't know when he'd visit. When he did choose to drop in, there'd be a piece of him lying around so only she could recognize who it was and make time to find herself alone somewhere. She catches her fall with the aid of his hands around her, keeping her balanced.

_don't want you_

_to let me be_

He returns her kiss almost desperately not in anguish but in how much he's missed her; missed hearing her voice, missed being with her and simply missed being close to her. He misses her conversations that end up being jumbled into sentences that ramble onto things most irrelevant to their discussion and wondering how did they even get there. He misses when she ducks her face down in embarrassment at saying something remotely offensive because he's a werewolf and seeing the tinged of pink in her complexion that makes her look so god damn beautiful. And when he teases her further by not responding, she feels bad enough that she does the cutest things with her hands and comes back with a cheeky remark once she's figured out his evil master plan.

He misses the essence of her, the air she walks, the breathe she takes; sickening sweet. When he's with her, he can't help but crack a smirk that turns into a full blown smile because she can take his mind off of all the crap that he's been dealt with and keep him centered in the moment, this moment with her. He becomes careless because she's so carefree with the commonality of youngsters trying to outsmart them as their biggest worry. Her presence makes it easy for him to be with her.

His pain, regrets and guilt don't amount to anything because they don't matter to her. She doesn't want to know what horrific and unbelievably inhuman things he's done to people but who he is as a person now. In this present moment. With her, she never questioned why but understood without having any reason to. She relates to him in any and every way possible without judgment. He opens himself up to her as he appeals to her dark humor. He gives her security and she breathes back life with virtue into him. She's healing him without even realizing it, he wants to be better. Truer to himself and true to others.

_Don't set me free_

_or you won't be able_

_to reach me_

With a strong hand on the small of her back, he brings her even closer to him. Derek holds her both tenderly and carefully; as if he's afraid she'll run when she understands how much he wants her after all the time spent away from her. He delves deeper with her mouth, reprinting into memory of what she tasted like; the flavor of light peach with a mix of wholesomeness and content.

He can feel her, her touch soothing, cool and calm upon his neck. Sensing she needs to breathe from the lack of oxygen, he tries to take every bit of the kiss left before she breaks it; taking anything granted but allowing her the choice of when to stop. She's taken something already given when she placed her shaky palm in his. He just didn't understand what was forming as he laid eyes on her statue. Nor did he try, shying away from his spider webbed and dust covered heart resounding again in his hollow bod.

_You love me_

Now he wants her. He wants to be selfish but he's not willing to chance it if his eagerness scares her away. Even with her, she makes him want to be better; bringing out a side of him he thought vanished in his younger years. The side of him that still holds innocence and has heard of no such thing as guilt or has seen darkness. Instead of a young boy, she starts to make him feel like when a man loves a woman.

_more than anything_

Jennifer breaks the kiss trying to catch her breath as she inhales deeply, her eyes closed and her brow in a furrow. She wonders what he's currently thinking as if placing their foreheads together could steal his thoughts and places them in her head. Or better yet, switch their thoughts to each other so she didn't have to rely on mere means of communication. Seeing as with communication, she fumbles over her words whenever she's around him. She can't help it. He makes her feel like that little giddy girl in high school who is dating the most popular guy who just so happens to be a closet English major and romantic at heart all wrapped into one. Leaning back onto her heels, she pulls herself apart from him.

_I,_

_need you_

"Where the hell have you been?" She says as her eyes truly set on Derek for the first time since Boyd's death, taking in his head being downcast, his eyes still tightly closed and his breath ghosting along her collarbone. She's angled to one side, wrapping her hand more firmly around his neck while her other hand softly rubs his chest. He has a hold on her, securing his forearms more soundly around her waist.

_your arms_

_around me_

_onto me_

_all over me_

"And don't say you needed to be alone for a while because that is the single worst excuse ever.." with a heavy breath, Jennifer seals her eyes shut as she places her forehead against his, her thumb brushing his jaw. Using a sad excuse for sarcasm as her replacement of worry, she miscalculated her words ending up being truthful. Despite how he feels when he teases her at her strangely good knack for guessing things right, her sentence hit home, too soon.

He dampens a strangled sound in his throat at the level of pain he momentarily forgot because he was dare he say it happy to be able to see her; that in his enthusiasm pushed the still fresh memory to the forehead of his mind. He needs to touch her in some way. To forget again but it's not an easy task; easier said than done. Hearing no response, she feels him rubbing her shoulders subconsciously. She peers up to look at him; his face in a grimace as his eyes ascended to meet her level.

_delicately strong_

"Oh." She sees doubt and comfort conflicting in him as he tells her he's okay. His brows shift slightly as he appreciates her attempts at trying to understand him. Under his hooded lashed eyes, he in return sees her squinting her eyes in embarrassment.

_Suddenly,_

"God, I'm sorry. You really did need to be alone didn't you?" as she waves her left hand uselessly in the air after making such a bad assumption. Along with acting like a love struck girl around him, her nerves jump when he's near causing her to say the wrong things at the wrong time. When he touches her, her skin electrifies; giving her that extra boost of energy to continue rambling on about herself and making a complete fool while she's at it. The best thing and only thing she could do now is wait.

_What brings you_

_back to me_

His head still contemplating; lids shifting, knowing she is giving him time to answer. He catches onto her fragrance; a hint of peach with a splash of citrus. Where her words left him astray to travel back into the hole of pain he buries himself with every day, he uses her smell to lead him back to her. To coax him back into the present. To bring him back to her.

_You, _

_hold me with your eyes_

"I'm here now." Derek states as a matter of fact with a slight shake of his head, brushing his nose against hers in semi form of an Eskimo kiss. He hears her gasp in reprieve as he assures her despite the pent up feelings he's been having lately, considering his circumstances. She places her hand on his heart as if knowing all too well. She slowly has immersed herself into his life, making a difference; a change, making herself known in his eyes. She begins to unweave the many layers he's hidden under to get to his real self.

_keep me with your lips_

"And you are safe. Trust me." He continues to reassure her question is seen as just wanting to know his wellbeing is taken care of. When she is seeking comfort from him, she ends up comforting him instead. Sometimes it takes just a bit longer for her to comprehend what she is doing. Once she does, her cheeks are a tab bit rosier. He can't help but find himself unable to resist her when she blushes. She's irresistible with those devilish lips that taunt him late into the nights when he's feeling needy and lonely. He lifts his chin up to stare at what's right in front of him. Presently seeing Jennifer and with the words her lips capture.

_making me want this_

"I haven't felt safe …partially because the evil twins are walking around school like nothing happened." She claims with emphasis as her brow rises, her hand stroking the back of his neck repeatedly and her vision of focus directed from his lips up into his eyes. Running out of breath, she finishes the sentence off with a sharp intake. He gazes into her delicately lit grey eyes of distress.

_A touch into my thoughts_

"They're not going to hurt you." He simply replies, shaking his head slowly from side to side, claiming his statement with a twerk of his eyebrows. Jennifer beams after hearing his statement, a glow of newfound security, nuzzling his forehead with more than a hint of smile left on her face. She stole him away. She stole him with her eyes and her mouth. She stole his broken beating heart or whatever was left of it.

She steals his breath away, taking by the lungful and he doesn't seem to mind. He doesn't care as long as she's the one at the forefront taking charge. As long as she is the one taking the care for him. He relishes in her complete trust she has for him, sharing what could be the closest thing to happiness with a small smile of his own. They share a tiny Eskimo kiss until…

Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing

_a light into my love_

Jennifer reluctantly tilts her head away from their close embrace to look at the school as her fingers uncurl from their previous condition while Derek with his chin up high already knows what the bell means. With a heavy sigh, she responds.

_a friend from my foe_

"Some days I just want to take a _sledgehammer_ to that bell." Her eyes hastily closed in irritation as she focuses at the said bell of the school. She takes on a tougher grip to stress for him her train of thoughts when vocalizing them out loud. She turns her head towards him as the lingering smile comes back in full force once she sees the effects of her comment has brought a different kind of smile onto his face. A kind of smile she never expected Derek to have or have ever seen before.

A smile that could shatter young girl's hearts or make a young woman's heart swoon. A carefree smile. If a comment like that could bring him to smile the one of a kind smile more often, she would already be up there beside the bell in a jiffy, hitting a mallet to the bell; forget about just the sledgehammer. And girl was she swooning, head over heels, falling, tripping and stumbling over her feet. She reined him in tighter to her, her arm all the way around his shoulders.

_I,_

_stand tall_

"Why don't you just come back with me?" Derek asks calmly at the prospect of having a teacher skip school to be with him, a sincere smile on his face with the doubt at the back of his head knowing she'll probably decline. He feels a bit out of touch, maybe a bit out of love. He didn't anticipate loving someone that same way since his first love nor did he imagine his feelings reciprocated, loved in return. He blinks simply back at the school before he turns his attention to her. His smile grows fonder as he watches the way she tilts her head in reluctance.

_because of it_

"I can't..." Jennifer drags out, exhaling harshly in her desire to go back with him against her better judgment of being a person, of even being a teacher. Even as every fiber of her being tells her to just go with him, she needs to do something important to her first. He takes notice of her body cues, continuing to hear her out despite wanting her so badly to take a chance this one time.

_the way it's _

_suppose to be_

"I got three more classes and I've got this recital together tonight." She fiddles with the pinky on her other hand, shrugging her left shoulder up femininely. Knowing he'll understand, accepting her beliefs in what she values as important not only to herself but to a school that needs closure. He watches for her reactions, computing the type of person she is to set up something like that for the school, respecting her decision and her role as a teacher.

_don't want to _

_fall another moment_

"I organized it to honor the losses of the school ...and now it just sound's really stupid doesn't it?" Her heartfelt face in the deaths of random students that happened recently sounded memorable until midsentence when it came off sounding all wrong as she said it out loud. She started to second guess herself, acknowledging the lives that have been taken away can destroy the bonds that hold them and any of the other student's relationships apart. Breaking down what they thought to know, dealing with the deaths in their emotions of sadness, grief, guilt and or anger. A frown marred her face as she looked up to Derek, needing his honest opinion while rubbing his shoulder absentmindedly.

_so try to see_

He looks at her facial expression as she explained exactly what she was up to and how much she cared about people and the value of one person's life itself. Only in his eyes did she feel she needs to validate herself because she still feels insecure on where she stands with him and in this relationship. She needed support and he was able to read her second guessing between the blurred lines. She also knew what he was going to say as a small smile was already forming to the left side of her mouth.

_make me _

_believe_

"No, it sounds perfect." He upholds her feelings through encouragement, enthralled by her stare. Validating in the reason why she feels the need to honor the losses of the school and reaffirming the type of person she is to others and seen as through his eyes. He couldn't agree more with what she said, what she does and who she is as a person to him. She is the one thing to him. She is perfect.

_I'm on my knees_

_begging_

Jennifer's smile widens till it reaches her eyes, looking into his. He decides to make the first move this time, leaning his head further down to seize her lips in a gentle but firm kiss. He gives her a kiss that holds promise and potential to become something greater down the road. She gives him meaning and he wants to make their relationship meaningful. She meets him in the kiss, caressing his neck. She slants her head more to the right to develop the kiss further into utter sweetness, parting slowly with a soft escape.

With a pop, their lips separate while Derek's eyes are still closed, reeling from the aftereffects of what her lips do to him. He silent, unmoving as her breath tempts his mouth for another kiss. Her hand travels down from his shoulder to his chest to rest upon his rapid beating heart. Her eyelids bit by bit flutter open as he grins. A small smile graces her features as she taps her nose to his and rests her forehead against his in joy.

_Please don't let me down_

Biting her lip, she pulls back down and her smile covers half her face as she gradually walks backwards. She turns away from him, her smile still evident as she takes one final glance at Derek before walking away now. He holds his stance with the only connection to her is by their conjoined hands. He holds onto her hand as does she till distance finally separates them. With her arm stretched out behind her, she brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. She walks back to the school in treads as her state of being is secured and safe because of Derek. He sees her off, his hand still outstretched in the direction Jennifer left.

_because_

_one thing's for sure_

A gust of wind passes by bringing up the leaves of the approaching fall to come. There's something in the air and Derek can sense it. He senses something not dangerous, definitely not magical but possibility for change. Change to allow him to fall. To fall in love with someone so incoercible and unexpectedly. He makes sure Jennifer is out of sight, safely tucked in the doors of the school before he turns and leaves the same way he entered. Quietly and swiftly as the leaves that marks his falling.

_Gravity will._


End file.
